Green Wave drops finale to Smith Academy

Greenfield High School nearly pulled off a stunner in its season finale on Friday afternoon, as it jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Smith Academy but the Falcons rallied to post a 5-3 North Division field hockey victory in Hatfield.

The Green Wave (4-11-2) got back-to-back goals from Tory Adams within a one-minute span at the midpoint of the first half, the second one coming on an assist from Erica Lapointe. The Falcons (8-3-4) tied the game before the break as Emiko Barker scored an unassisted goal, and Lauren Grondin scored on an assist from Jen Adamites.

The Falcons took the lead for good in the second half as Danielle Duseau scored off the stick of a Green Wave defender for the go-ahead goal, and then netted her second of the game for some breathing room. Grondin added her second of the game later in the half before Tylor Narkewicz scored on assists from Lapointe and Danielle Townsley for the final Green Wave net. Despite the loss in the season-ender, Green Wave coach Erin Thayer said her team has shown a lot of progress and with just two graduating players, she expects next season to be a different story.

“We ended this season on a really strong note and I think it shows what we should be able to do next season,” she said.

Diane Blanker had a nice day in net for the Green Wave, earning the praise of her coach with 24 saves. Lauren Bradford finished with five saves in the Falcons’ net.

Minnechaug 2, Frontier 0 — Eilish Garvey and Alexa Murphy each struck for first-half goals to lift Minnechaug Regional High School to a 2-0 win over Frontier Regional School in an independent field hockey game Friday afternoon in Wilbraham.

Gwen Thayer finished with three saves for the Red Hawks (12-4-1), who end their season this morning when they travel to Turners Falls High School at 9:30.

Mahar 3, Southwick 0 — Mahar Regional School held Southwick Tolland High School to zero shots on Friday and the Senators posted a 3-0 victory in a West Division field hockey game in Orange.

Aly Parker and Colleen Burke staked the Senators to a 2-0 lead with goals in the final four minutes of the first half. Natasha Patria and Courtney White each added assists on the goals. Kerrigan Wypych netted the lone goal of the second half on an assist from Jill Valley. Nate Ollari was not called on to make a save in the Mahar (16-2-0) net. The Senators will find out their seed in the WMass Division I tournament on Monday.

Sarah Bodzinski made 21 saves for the Rams.

Girls’ Volleyball

Belchertown 3, FC Tech 0 — Belchertown High School clinched a postseason birth with a 25-19, 25-16, 25-10, win over Franklin County Technical School in a Southern Division girls’ volleyball match Friday in Turners Falls.

The Orioles (10-9 overall, 5-3 South) were led by Caroline Dziel with 17 digs and Kim Drawec with two assists and four aces.

Kirsten Mattson paced the Eagles as she had three assists and two kills, while teammate Megan Doull had two assists and two digs in the loss. Melissa Leary contributed two digs and Jocelyn Rice collected three assists.

Athol 3, St. Bernard’s — Lexi Hamlett recorded six aces and went 14-for-14 from the service line as Athol High School defeated St. Bernard’s High School, 25-15, 25-16, 25-11, in an independent girls’ volleyball match Friday in Fitchburg.

Tess Neverett led the Red Raiders with 12 digs, three aces, and eight kills, Julia Salmond registered six kills and two blocks and Bella Valcourt chipped in three kills.